


Music To His Pointed Ears

by Twiona



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Humour, Mixtape, Music, Post-Star Trek Beyond, Spock Learns About Human Culture, Spock Listens To NIN - Closer, Spock Loves His Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 12:32:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13248306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twiona/pseuds/Twiona
Summary: In a bid to learn more about his human half, Spock decides to do some research on Terran culture and becomes quite intrigued by all the different styles of music.I don't own Star Trek or any of the characters.





	Music To His Pointed Ears

After Spock finished his shift on the bridge, he quietly bid his colleagues goodnight and left to go to his quarters. Usually he would go to the science labs and continue some scientific research, after all his typical Vulcan upbringing which emphasised the importance of education and learning had carried on into his adult life.

However, he fancied a change today. He decided to go and relax quietly in his room and look at human history on his PADD. It was still an educational activity and so it wasn't that much of a difference from his usual recreational activities, but in Spock's eyes it was borderline rebellious. He had a good reason for this sudden change though so at least it wasn't completely illogical.

Since the death of his mother, he was determined to learn more about his human half like she had always encouraged him to. Spock found it sadly ironic that he always felt ashamed towards his human side when he was bullied as a child but he was now actively embracing it after his planet's destruction. He felt like he owed it to the memory of his mother to be more accepting of his heritage, regardless of what the other Vulcans thought. As illogical as it seems, he wanted to make her proud even in death.

Walking into his quarters, Spock made himself some Vulcan herbal tea and seated himself on his sofa with a PADD in hand. He had already accumulated extensive knowledge on planet Earth, including historical figures, great battles, political history and the origins of their languages.

One thing Spock had little understanding of was their culture. He was always baffled by their strange behaviour and questioned his crew mates daily on the way they acted. He relaxed against the sofa, taking a sip of his drink and deciding that now was the time he would finally try to figure the strange Terrans out.

But where to start?

There was so much he wanted to learn about humans. Vulcan society had some similarities to certain aspects of Terran culture; Spock recalled his mother jokingly calling his father a "hippie" one time when he lit some calming incense to meditate. Not knowing what that term meant Spock had researched it afterwards and was pleasantly surprised at how the humans at one point in time had advocated peace and kindness. He wasn't too keen on the tie dye though.

Spock suddenly felt oddly ashamed of himself for knowing so little about human culture - especially considering that his own father was Earth's ambassador!

Not knowing where else to begin, Spock searched on the database for "hippie" to expand his limited knowledge on them.

A lot of brightly coloured images flashed up in front of him, mostly involving groups of young people in bright clothes attending concerts smiling, smoking and...what were they doing with those mushrooms? Spock would have to ask Kirk about that later.

He scrolled down and continued reading. What seemed to be a consistent theme throughout this particular subculture was music. He realised studying different genres was a fast and simple way to understand their cultures better.

Still continuing the hippie theme, Spock clicked on an old song called California Dreamin' by The Mamas & The Papas. He found it to be quite calming and began idly tapping his foot in time to the music as he finished drinking his tea.

After clicking on a few more songs of a similar style, he figured that he would try listening to something different.

He already knew a few classical rock songs that Jim had introduced him to. He fondly remembered the time Sabotage was blasting Krall's bee ships into pieces and decided that he would like to hear it again.

It was bizarre to hear it playing again now without the sounds of explosions drowning the lyrics out. Spock could definitely see why Kirk likes this song, it matched his rebellious personality perfectly.

But what about the other crew members? Spock heard them mention songs they liked quite frequently on the bridge but he had always drowned their idle chatter out in favour of working. As he was thinking this, a small illogical (human?) voice in his head told him that he should endeavour to learn more about his friends and their unique tastes in music.

For educational reasons, of course.

At least he didn't have to venture down to the med bay to ask the good doctor about his preference in music as he already knew from Jim that McCoy was rather fond of Johnny Cash. Spock chose one of his songs at random and began listening to Hurt.

As the song played, Spock was amazed at how much this song reminded him of the doctor. The southern country drawl and the nature of the lyrics represented McCoy's bitter persona quite accurately. It was almost like it was written for him.

Spock noticed that the original song was actually performed by a band called Nine Inch Nails. Since he admired the lyrics to Hurt he excitedly clicked on one of their other songs to see if those lyrics would remind him of McCoy as well.

He decided on listening to Closer.

When the chorus started playing his eyes widened and he awkwardly fumbled to press the button to quieten the volume down. Hopefully nobody outside heard that- unfortunately for Spock his quarters were not completely soundproof.

He jogged towards the door and flung it open only to be met with a silent, empty corridor. For once he was thankful that he was the only crew member on board with extra sensitive hearing. He decided that this would be a good opportunity to call it a night.

It was probably a good thing he stopped binge listening to Terran music anyway, he realised, as he had to be awake in time for his next shift soon. As he was preparing for his usual meditation before bed, he looked forward to continuing this little cultural discovery tomorrow.

Once again Spock retreated back into his quarters the next night after a relatively uneventful day in space. Spock had spent the day listening more closely to his friends' conversations (especially all the gossip and chatter in the mess hall) and had learnt quite a lot about their individual preferences in music, books and movies.

He mentally congratulated himself over a cup of his favourite tea for being more open to their culture. He knew his mother would have been proud of him.

Nestling back into his place on his sofa, Spock instantly searched for Lesley Gore, who he now knew to be Uhura's favourite singer after listening to her talking earlier.  
While he listened to You Don't Own Me, he felt a warm sense of pride and admiration for his strong spirited girlfriend. He had always approved and respected her inner strength and confidence.

He began to wonder if she liked this song because it reminded her of herself and her defiant, proud nature. Or perhaps she liked this song because it empowered her to be such a strong woman. Either way, Spock would have to remember this singer so he could do more research on her other songs later.

Right now, however, he wanted to see why Mr Scott was obsessing over a certain song called 500 Miles in the mess hall earlier.

Ah, it is a Scottish song. Mr Scott was very loyal to his homeland and his accent (which Spock had a slight problem with understanding at first) was strong and proud. Spock admired the way Mr Scott's pride also reflected in his work on the Enterprise... as well as his enthusiasm for his recreational activities in the ship's bar.

"Da da da da! (Da da da da!)"

Spock was certain he'd heard Scotty singing this part of the song with Keenser one time when they were repairing the warp core.

He drank more of his tea, deep in thought. It amazed him so much that having a tune to put to his friend's faces made their personalities seem more vibrant and alive. Everyone had their own song out there somewhere, he realised. This thought made him all the more eager to find the remaining two songs to fit his other close companions: Sulu and Chekov.

He knew Sulu's husband was a fan of someone called George Michael, so he switched one of his songs on after Mr Scott's happy Scottish song ended. The relaxing tune of Careless Whisper filled the air.

He could definitely imagine Sulu and his husband dancing to this calming song. Sulu was a family man, always messaging his love and his little daughter every chance he had. He probably listened to this song quite frequently to remind him of home if he ever got lonely.

But what about Chekov? Spock had heard him loudly singing something on his 18th birthday a few years ago about a man called Rasputin. He decided to look it up and find the song.

The first result was exactly the song he remembered those couple of years ago. The song was energetic, happy and quite funny. Exactly like the little Russian Ensign.  
Spock thought back over all the variety of songs he'd listened to today and last night. So many different styles, all of them unique but they somehow complemented each other.

Suddenly an idea sprung to his mind. Sitting up straight on his sofa and resting his PADD on his lap, he began tapping away excitedly.  
Once he had finished, he clicked on his newly created mixtape with the varied track list and renamed it "My Friends".

Track 1: Sabotage - Beastie Boys  
Track 2: Hurt - Johnny Cash  
Track 3: You Don't Own Me - Lesley Gore  
Track 4: 500 Miles - The Proclaimers  
Track 5: Careless Whisper - George Michael  
Track 6: Rasputin - Boney M

Spock relaxed back into his seat and with a tiny upward curve of his lips, he pressed play.


End file.
